In a simple head-to-head poll, Clinton leads with 45.6 percent of the vote. Trump earned 40.4 percent. When that race included specific third party candidates, both candidates lost significantly. Clinton earned only 39 percent of the vote, and Trump a paltry 35 percent.

The big news for Trump, however, is that his unfavorable numbers are down. Trump’s unfavorability numbers in recent polls rose from 65 percent to 70 percent. But that number has decreased to an all-time low for the divisive candidate at 60 percent.

Fifty-three percent of likely voters held an unfavorable view of Clinton, with 20 percent of respondents stating they held an unfavorable opinion of both candidates.

Sixty-three percent of respondents also stated they felt “alarmed” about the state of the election, though 23 percent reported they were “excited” about the election.

Overwhelmingly, Republicans wanted Trump to pick a Vice President with “Washington experience.” Trump told supporters early in the race that he would surround himself with competent advisors, and alluded to choosing an “insider” when considering his VP pick.

The so-called “short list” includes New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, and Republican Senator Joni Ernst. In an op-Ed in the National Review, conservative commentator Rich Lowry wrote he believed former presidential candidate Rick Santorum would be a likely pick.

Compared to Donald Trump, everyone up for consideration has more experience inside Washington, although none of the names up for consideration are part of the scorned “establishment.”

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About the AuthorRusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss is a freelance journalist focusing on the conservative movement and its political agenda. He has been writing conservatively charged articles for several years in the upstate New York area, and his writings have appeared in the Daily Caller, American Thinker, FoxNews.com, Big Government, the Times Union, and the Troy Record. He is also Editor of one of the top conservative blogs of 2012, the Mental Recession.

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